


My Rags of Heart

by voleuse



Category: The Pretender
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-12-31
Updated: 2007-12-31
Packaged: 2017-10-04 02:50:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 363
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25141
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/voleuse/pseuds/voleuse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><em>I brought a heart into the room, but from the room I carried none with me</em>.</p>
            </blockquote>





	My Rags of Heart

**Author's Note:**

> S1, no spoilers. Title and summary adapted from John Donne's _The Broken Heart_.

After he escaped, there were a thousand things Jarod wanted to learn. The first thing he ferreted out, however, was Parker's unlisted phone number.

*

 

Jarod had been cold before, of course, and even freezing, almost frozen to death. (Sydney had bundled him under blankets after that simulation, and put his hand on Jarod's shoulder while taking his temperature. Jarod remembers that moment more vividly than the simulation itself.) Standing outside, in the open air, was a totally different experience.

The sun was sinking behind the mountains, and snow fell like sparkling confetti against his skin. Jarod tipped his head back and felt the crunch of ice under his feet as he shifted.

He leaned against a tree, and while he waited for Parker to arrive, he rubbed his cheek against the bark and marveled at life's texture.

*

 

Parker shed her gun first, set it on her coffee table. She rolled her shoulders and sighed.

If she hadn't spent most of their lives cataloging him, Jarod mused, hovering at the edge of the kitchen, he would feel guilty about watching her like this.

She stretched arms towards the ceiling, her hands unclenching like a dancer's. Something thrummed at the pit of Jarod's stomach, but he waited until he stood between Parker and the gun before he spoke. "Long day?"

Parker whirled about. "Jarod!" Her right hand instinctively reached back for her abandoned gun.

He grinned, then shuffled to his left, mirroring her quick step. "Ah! Let's leave the gun out of this discussion."

She narrowed her eyes. "What do you want?"

He shrugged. "Maybe I missed you."

"Right." She folded her arms. "Pull the other one."

Jarod managed to smile despite himself. He pulled an envelope from his jacket pocket and dropped it on the floor. "Early Christmas present." He tapped it with his foot, then slid it forward.

Parker kept a close gaze on him as she bent to pick it up, but it didn't matter. When she tore the flap open, she glanced down, and Jarod slid away.

He was out the door when she let out a wail of frustration, and his lips twisted at the sound.

He knew the feeling.


End file.
